This blog continues the discussion that we began with Epic Journey: The 2008 Elections and American Politics (Rowman and Littlefield, 2009). In 2017, be on the lookout for the next book in this series: Defying the Odds: the 2016 Elections and American Politics.

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Defying the Odds

New book about the 2016 election.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

American Crossroads: Looking Back and Forward on Outside Money

Politico reports that the Democrats are now paying a price for the president's insistence that Democratic money go through Team Obama:

"The leadership of the Obama campaign warned their donors against giving to outside groups, including many of the key issue groups that motivate progressives. The leadership in the White House has done the same thing," said Erica Payne, one of the founders of the Democracy Alliance, a group of the largest liberal donors, who now heads the Agenda Project. "As a result, the administration often looks like Will Ferrell in the movie 'Old School' — running through the street naked, shouting, 'Come on, everybody's streaking,' when in reality they are all by themselves."

By their own admission, Republicans are only warming up their money machine for the next presidential election. “We're definitely building a foundation,” Steven Law, executive director of American Crossroads—the independent conservative group advised by Karl Rove that will spend upwards of $50 million this fall—told me last month. “We hope to be an important player in 2012.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is also sure to spend big in that election. Democratic criticisms of those groups won't be enough to affect this election. But the bright media spotlight shining on outfits like American Progress and the Chamber could lead to post-election legal scrutiny from the IRS and the Federal Election Commission that could cramp those groups in the coming presidential contest.

Notice, however, that few Democrats argue such outside groups should be abolished completely. Indeed, David Axelrod—who reportedly will soon begin setting up Obama's re-election committee—may be hoping that Democrats will match the Republican effort in the coming two years